6/26/15

The
more I try to figure out what to do this season, the less I come to any
conclusion.

This
is a team that was built behind young, team controlled pitching, backed by an
offense led by David Wright and Daniel Murphy. Michael Cuddyer
and Curtis Granderson were added over two
off-seasons and, along with Travis d’Arnaud, Michael
Cuddyer, and Lucas Duda, this was
supposed to be enough offense to get the majority of games won.

Everything
was hunky-dory when all of these guys were in the early games together.

Fans
have to realize that extended contracts just don’t disappear if a ballplayer
doesn’t live up to your expectations. Just ask Jason
Bay’s wife and how much she’s had to spend from checks sent to her by
the Mets.

Trust
me, the Mets aren’t the only team that suffers from bad contracts. There is
none worse right now than the Boston Red Sox. Hanley
Ramirez ($88mil through 2018), Pablo Sandoval ($95mil
through 2019), Dustin Pedroia ($110mil through
2021), Rick Porcello ($82.5mil through 2019),
and Rusney Castillo ($72.5mil through 2020) are
all either injured or under-preforming. We have it bad. They might be terminal
for their front office.

I
haven’t changed my stance on the pitchers on this team. Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero,
Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, and Steven Matz are
the future of this team through 2018. Harvey, Mejia, and Familia will become a
free agent in 2019 and we’re going to have to wait and see if the Mets attempt
to sign any of them up to a long term deal.

As
for ‘field players’, very few matter to me over the long run. I’d like to keep Lucas Duda, but the last minute breakdown in contract
extension talks just before the start of this season may have created bad blood
between the player, his agent, and the team. Dilson
Herrera looks like a keeper at second, but I do still need to see much
more here, both offensively and defensively. I love Travis
d’Arnaud behind the plate… now all he has to do is stop getting hurt and
needing so many days off. And Michael Conforto will
definitely be a starter in my outfield, as early as next season.

But
that’s really it.

David Wright looks shot and, if I was the Mets,
I’d strongly consider going the insurance route here.

Daniel Murphy isn’t worthy of discussion because he
will be gone next year.

Regarding
Wilmer Flores, are we really supposed to be happy
with a middle infieder that hits .240 and can’t get to a ground ball in time (or turn a double play) just
because he can hit 10 home runs before the all-star break?

I’ve
never been a fan of the Curtis Granderson signing
and Michael Cuddyer at best represents a bargain
basement approach to solving a team problem in the outfield.

And
this brings me to Juan Lagares who overnight
seems to have turned into a bad defensive centerfielder. There’s obviously
something wrong here, but is it more than an injury? I don’t think it is, but I
know how much emotion he plays with and I just don’t see it coming out of him
right now.

The
rest of 2015 may be a tough time for Mets fans. The 11 game winning streak only
represented a team that had most of their starters in the dugout and their
names written daily on the lineup. That went away quickly.

None
of us can make any of these contracts go away and no team in baseball is going
to actively help the Mets reach their goals. The decline from first place was
delayed due to the miserable way other teams played in the division, but
Washington seems to have now got their act back together.

Equally
important is the distance being made by teams like Pittsburgh, Chicago, and San
Francisco. It’s becoming quite evident that the only road to the playoffs for
the Mets will be to beat the Nationals as division champions. Tell that to Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper.

No
loss of any of these players leave a gaping hole in the 25-man squad, thus, all
of this money can be used for arbitration raises and at least one quality blue
chip either via a trade or free agency.

Bobby Parnell ($3.7mil) and Jerry Blevens ($2.4mil) are also scheduled for free agency, but my
guess is the Mets will try and re-sign both.

I
still feel the primary need for this team is a defensive-minded shortstop that
also brings a decent bat to the table. The team has to address the horrendous
defense being played this year on all three infield positions.

I
light a candle every night that Dilson Herrera will
continue to improve on second base. I think we have a winner here but it’s
going to take another year to probably find out.

Frankly,
the whole David Wright fiasco is preventing this
team from moving ahead both during this season and 2016. A decent addition at
short could move Wilmer Flores and give him new
life at third, but you can’t do this with your Captain still a member of the
team.

29
comments:

I truly hope if David Wright is not close to 100%, he retires. We'll need clarity to move forward effectively.

Leathersich has pitched enough so far to show what he can contribute, Mack. Do you think he can be part of the Mets' core pen in years to come?

I like your post about 99 MPH Fulmer this morning in the minor league update (that everyone should read daily, BTW:). He has similarities to Matz...missed a lot of of time due to injury, looking very promising post-injury, still 22 for this entire season.

Nice to know he is still viable and valuable.

One more question: when all that $$ comes off the Mets' books at end of 2015, who would you target as a big bucks FA?

I don't; however, have the details of that insurance policy... I understand it doesn't begin to pay out until an 'x' amount of consecutive games are missed, but I don't know where it goes from there. Can Wright then come back at a later time and get his salary start paying again?

I hate looking ahead to next year already but it is what it is. I thought this team would win a ton of games 3-2 but they can't score 3 runs.

Heywood would bring strong defensive and power potential, albeit not a cleanup hitter. Upton would offer more of the offense that this team needs but will sacrifice some of the defensive upgrade. I'd take either one. You would then end up with a Cuddyer/Conforto platoon. I'd imagine that if Granderson finishes with 20+ HR and an OBP of .350+, then you could find a taker for him. But that kind of production would probably be our 2nd best bat this year.

The bottom line is that the needs next season will match the needs this season. They need the guys in uniform to hit and play defense. I like Wilmer but he should be playing 3B. They need to find a true shortstop but those are harder to find that power hitters.

Mack, on Leathersich, I agree he needs to be used in more challenging spots. I was annoyed the other day when, after he struck out the side in the 5th, was pulled after a lead off double the next inning and the game slipped away. He is 5 for 19 vs. righties and around .190 vs. minor league righties in 2013-15, with a ton of Ks. Let him pitch to righties in those situations.

Justin or Jason might be worth pursuing. Let's see what Nimmo and Conforto do the rest of the year. While Conforto has gotten all the attention this year, Nimmo is a very impressive .321/.382/.440 in over 40 games in AA this year. Both might be busting down the door by season's end. Maybe we won't need what we think we need now.

I would love for someone to be able to finally get straight answers from the Wilpons and Alderson.No more suppositions, educated guesses, connect the dots trying to rationalize moves or nonmoves.Just once I would love for a reporter to be able to interview Alderson and the Wilpons and get truthful,straightforward answers in their own words.No more covering, half truths, misdirections, lies.

It would be refreshing after the past few years to have Met leadership come clean and own up to the mess they have made and just how badly it has failed.

You're not going to get SA to stop his talk-speak, nor will you get TC to stop all his scenarios he throws out there in press conferences. Most of this shit is probably just to bust the asses of the beat press.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Mets receive 75% of David Wright's pay once he misses 60 games. So instead of paying him $20 million to under perform they will pay him $5 million for each season to go away.

Interestingly, they could turn this debacle into an event, not quite of the Lou Gehrig variety, but a (for once) well organized appreciation day for what he's accomplished and at least get one guaranteed sell-out at CitiField.

Four out of the five top pitchers (Wheeler) are now in the rotation. It really isn't going to matter whether it is a 5 or 6 man rotation... these four guys and Familia represent a chance to win the vast majority of games that are left this season.

Yes, they will need some offensive help and the next baby step (for the rest of this season) will be Murphy.

The most important thing for me is to not see another Kazmir trade. The Mets were a few games back but obviously not close to the Braves and they traded away their best young arm in a long time for what amounted to junk then immediately fell completely out of contention. I think the Mets will be better this year than last year but I dont see how they become a contender unless Wright comes back and Cuddyer starts to play like how he is paid or at least stops grounding into double plays every other game and doesnt kick the ball into the corner. We have waited too long to make any hasty mistakes in the trade market. If Sandy can pull a deal that is fair that doesnt hamstring us for the future I'm all for it. I still think taking on the full contract of Colon,Niese or Gee should be able to net us some player to help but they probably wont do such a move.